  
PLATINI, BECKENBAUER and CRUYFF |
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Bobby Charlton, England's most famous ever player. |
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PLATINI, BECKENBAUER and CRUYFF |
| Imagine a player as good as Gerd Mueller as goal-scorer, as accomplished as Michel Platini as playmaker, as strong as Giacinto Facchetti in the tackle. Imagine a player even more versatile than "the total footballer" Johan Cruyff, more commanding than "Der Kaiser" Franz Beckenbauer. Imagine such qualities all seen in one player. And the player has the energy of two men to express such a talent. That must be an awesome scene. |
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Alfredo Di Stéfano,
to many soccer experts, was a player even greater than Pelé. (See
the experts' comments in the Quotation
page.) He was a player with extraordinary versatility and incredible
stamina. Although generally referred to as a center-forward, he played
in defence, midfield and the forward line. In EVERY game.
THE GREAT ACHIEVER
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Peaked at 29 |
MARADONA Peaked at 25 |
Peaked with Alfredo |
| While Pelé retired from international football at 30 and Maradona dropped out of the European limelight at 31, Di Stéfano's fitness allowed him to play in top-flight European football until he was 40. Even in his mid-thirties, he was still the undisputed greatest footballer in the world. Di Stéfano starred in three of the greatest teams of all-time and was even greater than "The Galloping Major" Ferenc Puskas, his teammate at Real Madrid. |
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While the lasting fame
of Pelé helped him to be recognized as the world’s best footballer
ever, people who have seen Di Stéfano played unanimously agreed
that the Argentine was a better player. And the only one who deserves
to be called "the greatest".
His versatility, stamina and perfection in every art of the game made him not only a deadly goalscorer, but also an excellent playmaker and defender. In fact, this all-round player is the idol of Johan Cruyff, the chief of Holland's "Total Footballers". |
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| But the football god was
not very kind to such an incredible player. Few contemporary soccer fans
know about Di Stéfano because he did not feature in any World Cups,
for various reasons. (Visit the ODD
FACTS PAGE to find out why)
In the 1950s, a long list of all-time greats such as Kopa, Puskas, Santamaria, Gento, Del Sol, Didi, Rial and Di Stéfano enabled Real Madrid to become the most feared club team in the world. But Di Stéfano had always remained the single most important player whom the whole outfit was built around. He almost single-handedly won 5 consecutive European Cups for the club and also firmly established Real as the world’s greatest club side. Now, are you ready to find out more about Alfredo
Di Stéfano - the greatest all-round player? You will find
out here.
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CLICK TO START
YOUR JOURNEY
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